Backyard Classic Pro Charcoal/Wood Grill

Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 19:37
Written by Ray
Wednesday, 01 July 2009 02:04

I was in real need of a charcoal burning grill. The one I have been
using was about 15 years old and I was tired of repairing it. I saw this
grill at Sam's and bought it for $199.95 because it had a feature I wanted in a
new grill. I wanted the ability to be able to raise and lower the fire so
I didn't burn my food. Well, this grill has two chambers that you
can raise and lower independently of each other. It has cast iron grates
that I also wanted. Also it is built fairly rugged.

This is a grill and not a smoker. Well, you could use it as a smoker
but I don't think it would work well. I will have to try smoking
something like ribs on it to see what happens. But something like this is
made for grilling hamburgers, brats, hot dog and cooking steaks.

7-02-09 Today I seasoned the grill. I removed the grates as I will
season the grates tomorrow. I then cleaned out the interior of the grill
and coated it with vegetable cooking oil. I built what I thought was a
small fire using one charcoal chimney load. It turned out that this is too
much if you want the temperature to be around 250 degrees. So I had to
take some of the charcoal out. I let it cook for three hours at 250 and
then opened up the air vents to get it up to 375 for another hour. Then I
let is cool off. I was surprised that it held it temperature for the three
hours.

7-3-09 It was time to season the cast iron grates today for the first
time. I know that from time to time it will be necessary to season the
cast iron grates again. So here is what I did. I scrubbed the grates
with hot soapy water to remove any protective coating the manufacture put on
them. Who knows what they used to keep the grates from rusting but I sure
as the hell did not want any of this grease on my food when I cooked.
After cleaning I dried the grates with paper towels and then coated them with
melted Crisco. In the mean time I had put a small amount of lit charcoal
and a couple of chunks of apple wood in the fire pan. So after the coating
of Crisco on the grates I put the grates back in closed the grill up and let
everything cook for a couple of hours. The temperature went up to about
350 degrees and stayed there during the seasoning of the grates.

7-4-09 So, as you can see on the 4th. of July, there is the grill, with a
dozen hamburgers, five brats and the pan had three pounds of beans in it.
You can see in the picture the grill could have easily held twice as much
food. It almost looks empty. Well, the grill preformed
flawlessly. At this point I can say I am very happy with this
purchase. There are a couple of other things I want to point out to you
about this grill. If you look at the small picture on the right side you
can clearly see a "J" shaped thing. That is a very fictional
hook that allows you to grab hold of one of those grates and lift it out of the
grill, it really works well. I would pay $20 bucks for one of those hooks
if it had not come with the grill.

One bad thing about this grill. When I bought it at Sam's, it was
already put together. So I did not see it in the box. The instruction manual
say's for parts and returns contact Rankam VDG Industries in Golden Valley,
MN. After getting it home I found that that company's main office is in
Hong Kong. I was not happy. But I found it was built so well I decided to keep
it. It was big and heavy it took me and my son to load it on his truck.
Nowhere on the manual does it say anything about the country of origin. I always
try to buy American but it is getting harder to find what you want and can
afford.

Also because of the large size of this grill I am having a bit of trouble
finding a cover for it. I need a cover that is 30 inches deep to fit this
cooker. I can't find one in stores but did find one on amazon.com that
cost $53 but it takes 3 to 6 weeks to get one. So I have had to cover it
with a blue plastic trap until I can get a cover that fits.

Update on the grill cover from amazon. This thing is a great grill cover. It should
last several years even in the winters of Kansas which like last year can
yield a lot of snow and very cold temperatures. The grill cover come
through this last winter and looks almost new. I was so impressed with the
quality of this one and bought another one from the same manufacture for the
Weber Smoky Mountain smoker. Her is the amazon.com link to the cover I
bought for this grill. I bought the XXL and it fits fine. The XL
would have been too small.

Comments

I purchased this grill from Sam's Club as a birthday gift in April 2011 to replace a grill that was 17 years old. I have been bery disappointed in the grill the grates after seasoning as described above continue to rust after every cooking even after properly cleaning it and the outside looks like it is 100 years old with rust on top. The outside handle has already caused severe burns to hands because of the heat. Please contact me. McRoyjmhyahoo.com

I have owned this grill for approx. 4 years and cant be happier with it. I never clean the grates, and take them off the heat and put them onto the cool side when I am done, if I am using both sides, I just take them off and place them on the ground until cool. This keeps the grease and oils from the food on them and keeps them seasoned. I have smoked many pork shoulders or "boston butts" and they always turn out great. I keep it covered and have had no problems with rust. Every couple of months I spray the entire outside with pam cooking spray before I cook so that it gets seasoned when cooking. I have no gripes with this grill and don't understand why anyone could complain about it. I do try to use it about once a week.

I love this grill it performs like an indoor oven with it's ability to maintain temperatures for hours on end. After 3 years mine started to rust. My lazy side went to replace the grill but could not find one anywhere. I went to home crepo and purchased 4 cans of rusttoleum ultra gloss rated at 1200 degrees. The rust sanded off easilly using a black and decker $19.00 sander with a pointy tip. The only thing made of cheap metal is the ash tray and charcoal grate. The high heat has mine twisted. I plan to fabricate a heavy duty grate that is deeper and made with heavy steel which should not twist. I will repair and paint this thing forever it is the best oven/grill I have ever used.

I just ordered new cooking grates I the number that I used is 888-837-1380customerservice@rankam.combut the customer service number in the manual is 866-561-0731 the gave me the other number and emailHope this helps

I love this grill. I have cooked everything from dogs and burgers to a turkey cut in half. The only problem I have is the charcoal grates rusted out. I would like to purchase a new grill but Sam's Club no longer sells the Backyard Professional and I have not been able to find this grill anywhere. Any help would be great

I have this grill It has served me VERY well for many years. The charcoal trays rusted out and I called 888-837-1380 (thank you Alisha) looking to replace them. I found out that this grill has been discontinued for a while and I cant get the parts. Oh well... this grill owes me nothing. Its been a real dependable workhorse for me. I can rig together something for the trays and would expect another 4-5 years use.